Improved disaster health learning opportunities as learned from case studies of communities recovering after hurricanes irene and sandy

A set of case studies was conducted to better understand the successes and challenges associated with long-term community disaster recovery and to identify opportunities for improved education and training for domestic disaster health workers before and after the event. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from two Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene- and three Hurricane Sandy-affected locations. Special recruitment focus was given to participants working in one of eight pre-defined health and safety related functional roles, including the emergency manager, public health director, mental health director, hospital emergency operations leader, the chiefs of fire and police, local political leader, and active community organization leaders, but interviews were also conducted with others in the community who play a significant role in recovery. The study revealed community leaders' perceptions of their current community recovery progress, successes and challenges in protecting public health, and education and training needs for pre- and post-disaster communities. It also explored respondents' pre-disaster competency of core disaster health concepts, relationships with other stakeholders in recovery, and hindsight priorities for learning across the health professions.